Trigger Warning: This article discusses sexual assault
For years, Allison Mack’s name was synonymous with NXIVM, the self-help group that devolved into a coercive sex cult led by Keith Raniere.
Once a rising star on Smallville, Mack became one of Raniere’s most trusted lieutenants, later serving two years in federal prison for her role in recruiting and controlling women within the organisation.
Now, at 43, Mack is speaking for herself in Allison After NXIVM, a seven-part podcast from CBC’s Uncover series.
Hosted by journalist Natalie Robehmed and produced by Vanessa Grigoriadis, the project offers a rare glimpse into how someone once branded a villain is attempting to understand her own complicity and rebuild a life after public disgrace.
In the podcast, Mack revisits her early days as a child actor and her breakout role as Chloe Sullivan in Smallville, which she filmed in Vancouver from 2001 to 2011.
It was there, she recalls, that a co-star first introduced her to NXIVM. What began as an innocuous self-improvement course soon consumed her identity.
Allison Mack pleaded guilty for her role in the sex trafficking case linked to the NXIVM cult and was sentenced in July 2021. She served two years of a three-year term before being released in 2023.
Mack fell entirely under NXIVM leader Keith Raniere’s control, drawn into the inner circle of women manipulated into meeting his every demand. Under the guise of devotion, she endured coerced sexual encounters with him and ultimately abandoned her acting career to relocate near NXIVM’s headquarters in Albany, New York.
At Raniere’s trial, former members described how he created a secret inner circle within the organisation called DOS. While Mack was emotionally dominated and sexually exploited by Raniere, she also became his most visible enforcer. As second-in-command of DOS, she recruited “slaves” who were branded and controlled nearly every aspect of their lives, including their restricted diets, daily movements, and even their thoughts.
Among those she recruited was India Oxenberg, whose mother, actor Catherine Oxenberg, was one of the first to publicly denounce the organisation.
According to prosecutors, Mack and other leaders used nude photographs and other compromising material as “collateral” to ensure obedience. In Allison After NXIVM, Mack acknowledges her complicity, admitting she was “very effective in moving Keith’s vision forward.”
“I was not kind and I was aggressive and I was abusive,” she says in one episode. “I was harsh and I was callous and I was aggressive and forceful in ways that were painful for people.”
Though she accepts responsibility, Mack also speaks about the psychological conflict that kept her tied to Raniere’s ideology.
“I admit I was abusing my power,” she reflects, “but I can’t negate the fact that there was a part of me that was altruistic and was desperate to help people.”
She adds, “I wanted to be better, and I was willing to do anything to be better in myself and to help other people be better.”
In the podcast, Mack reflects on her direct role in facilitating Raniere’s abuse.
“I was the go-between between him and this person,” she says, referencing Raniere and one of his victims. “It was my job to relay what to do with him for her growth. The more she said, ‘I’m scared, I don’t want to do it,’ the more I would say, ‘You need to do it, and the longer you wait, the more consequences there will be.’ The coercion started, and the pressure and the pressure and the pressure…. And then it was like rape.”
She also speaks candidly about the intoxicating pull of authority that came with her position. “Yes, I was excited by the power that I felt having these young, beautiful women look to me and listen to me. And yes, the sexuality of it was exciting.” Confronting that truth, she admits, “continues to be a process and a challenge.”
Hosted by Natalie Robehmed, the podcast sets out to answer a central question: “Who is Allison Mack, really? Is she a victim or someone who victimised others?”
Across the series, Allison After NXIVM unpacks Mack’s gradual indoctrination into the cult, showing how Raniere entrapped and gaslit her by manipulating her through sustained criticism and emotional control. Mack’s vulnerability to Raniere’s control is examined, revealing her history of childhood exploitation and people-pleasing tendencies. When she confided this to him, he said, “In order for me to help you with that, we’re going to have to be physically intimate.”
Utilising classic cult tactics, he told Mack she was “inauthentic,” “self-absorbed,” unable to connect with others, and a “narcissist,” but insisted that NXIVM could fix her. Some of his observations may have contained fragments of truth, yet they were weaponised to break her down.
“Allison has not spoken publicly since her incarceration,” Robehmed says. “She’s had lots of offers, but always said no — until now. She wants to tell her story in podcast form, because she loves podcasts, and because she’s no longer comfortable in front of cameras like she used to be.”
NXIVM’s abuses came to light in 2017 following The New York Times exposé “Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded.”
By the time Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison, Mack was confronting the damage she had helped perpetuate.
Allison married Frank Meeink, a reformed neo-Nazi turned civil-rights activist. Meeink, once convicted of kidnapping and assault, has since dedicated his life to anti-racism advocacy. Mack, meanwhile, is studying for a master’s degree in social work.
1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, chat online via www.1800RESPECT.org.au, or text 0458 737 732. Men’s Referral Service: 1300 766 491.
